


I Like Me Better

by pantheradraconis



Category: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/F, F/M, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:55:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29065440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pantheradraconis/pseuds/pantheradraconis
Summary: Bella, after graduating high school in Florida under the roof of her mother and stepdad, moves to Forks, WA for her first year of college. She arrives the summer before and spends most of her time at the res with her friends Jacob and Leah, learning about the wolves and taught to fear the cold ones. On her first day of classes at Peninsula College, Bella runs into the most gorgeous girl she’s ever seen and immediately becomes infatuated with her.
Relationships: Emmett Cullen/Angela Weber, Leah Clearwater/Edward Cullen, Rosalie Hale/Bella Swan
Comments: 6
Kudos: 31





	I Like Me Better

**Title:** I Like Me Better

**Author:** Pantheradraconis

**Rating:** M

**Pairing:** Bella/Rosalie, Emmett/Angela, Edward/Leah

**POV:** Changes, 3rd Person

**Summary:** Bella, after graduating high school in Florida under the roof of her mother and stepdad, moves to Forks, WA for her first year of college. She arrives the summer before and spends most of her time at the res with her friends Jacob and Leah, learning about the wolves and taught to fear the cold ones. On her first day of classes at Peninsula College, Bella runs into the most gorgeous girl she’s ever seen and immediately becomes infatuated with her.

**Chapter 1**

**Rosalie**

Emmett parks the Jeep in the back of the parking lot and the group of teens exit gracefully. Alice is already bouncing on the balls of her feet in anticipation of her first day at their new school; the twins, Jasper and Rosalie, are much more subdued. For Rosalie, this is the first day of her second year at Peninsula College and the excitement of a new daily location has long since worn off. For Jasper, the immense amount of people is still overwhelming; he finds himself holding in breath in short bursts. The largest of the group, Emmett looks out over the parking lot. He is already searching for the blue station wagon of his ex-girlfriend, knowing she is also starting classes this year. 

Rosalie rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest. Emmett and Angela had broken up over a year ago and yet he still sought her out in a crowd. Perhaps this was the real issue of dating a human; their soft, fragile bodies are forever just out of your grasp but so easy to pick out in a crowd due to their individual smell. Their lives are unimaginably easy and carefree and yet they throw them away with bad decisions and recklessness. Rosalie scoffs to herself and flips her hair, checking her makeup in the side mirror before walking across the lot. Alice and Jasper follow with Emmett at the back, head still swinging from side to side. 

The group makes their way through the main entrance, into the crowd of people. Several kids are staring down at their phones, several more are gawking at the group. Rosalie doesn’t bother making eye contact with any of them; in time, they’ll learn to stop staring, at least so blatantly. Leading the group, Rosalie brings them into the Student Services building where Jasper and Alice join a throng of freshmen receiving a drawstring sports pack with the school logo on it, a one-eyed pirate. Alice excitedly grabs one for her and Jasper before plunging into it. Inside is a notebook, also emblazoned with the pirate, two pens, a rape whistle (Rosalie scoffs at the ingenuity), and a map of the campus. 

Jasper searches through his own bag a bit more, finally pulling out a small, felt pennant and waving it in the air. His smile is a mixture of false excitement and simply enjoying the beginning of a new school. He so desperately wants to enjoy his life intertwined with the humans; to live that carefree day to day he lost in his own youth due to the war, and then again in another war altogether. Alice smiles at her mate and the two compare and trade notebooks.

A teen, possibly a junior, stands up in the crowd and shouts for attention. She calls for all the freshmen to make sure they have a bag and if anyone needs help finding their classes just to ask. She then points to her shirt and explains that anyone wearing a red pirate tee that says Buccaneer Helper on the back will be around campus just to help out. 

“So don’t hesitate to walk right up to us!” She claps her hands before concluding her speech. “I’ll see you around campus, and welcome Pirates!”

“Are you all set?” Rosalie asks the group. 

Jasper nods his head solemnly, looking down at his phone. “We’ve got to head over to this College Success class.”

Alice scoops his arm in hers and focuses on Rosalie and Emmett. “What classes do you two have today?”

“Uh, my first class is Critical Thinking,” Emmett answers slowly. “Why they made that a morning class is anyone’s guess.” He looks around at the group of freshmen and laughs again. “These kids might be excited for their first day but I have no doubt the second years won’t be quite as enthusiastic.”

Alice laughs before turning to Rosalie. “What about you? Any bloody medical classes this semester?”

Rosalie rolls her eyes before shaking her head softly. “I’ve only got the one bio class and that’s on Tuesdays and Fridays.” She looks down at her phone, even though she remembers her schedule perfectly. Perhaps it’s the humanity of the action that causes her to do it. “I’ve only got Composition II today and that’s not until this afternoon.”

“Will you walk with us to class then?” Alice asks, once again bouncing on her feet. 

Jasper smiles calmly at his mate. The love between the two of them is sometimes so great it makes Rosalie want to scowl. She turns away instead. 

The freshmen start to thin out of the group and Rosalie can’t help but spot Angela out of the corner of her eye. She watches the thin girl go through her bag while talking to a short boy whose back is turned to them. Rosalie turns to Emmett and sees that he’s watching them as well. 

“Eric,” the burly teen beside her says at such a low volume only their own group can hear him. “They got together sometime last year. I was hoping…”

Emmett trails off and Jasper presses a calming hand to his bicep. Rosalie turns back to Angela and watches her smile and laugh before noticing Rosalie’s stare. The tall girl looks up, smiles shyly, and waves. Rosalie turns on her heel and walks out of the building, her siblings in tow. They turn left out of the doors and over to the largest building on campus, Maier Hall. 

A teen boy holds the door open for Rosalie and even attempts to say something but the tall blonde merely pushes straight past him. She hears Emmett thank the boy but doesn’t spend another moment thinking of it. The last thing she needs is some halfwit thinking she holds even an inkling of interest in them. With teenagers, you give them a smile, they think they deserve your entire world. 

The large building holds three floors, each with a variety of classrooms and labs. Rosalie ignores the hall with the faculty offices and makes her way up the stairs to the second floor. The Student Skills Center, a large room with a few round tables and a smartboard, has an entrance in the middle of the hallway. Waving Jasper and Alice into the room, Rosalie watches as the two wander over to a vacant table and take their seats; Jasper holds the chair out for Alice. The smaller teen moves her chair closer to her mate once he’s seated and whispers something into his ear. Jasper leans away, looking surprised, before turning back toward Rosalie. The tall blonde watches them a moment longer, wondering what they’re whispering about.

“How are you?” The voice carries through the air and lands in Rosalie’s ear, causing her to turn abruptly. Angela is standing a few feet away from the blonde, but directly in front of Emmett.

The burly teen scratches at the back of his neck before shrugging, an easy smile on his lips. 

“I’ve been good, Ang. I’ve missed you.”

Angela blushes slightly and looks down at her hands, her long brown hair falling over her shoulders. “I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch at all. I know how absent I’ve been over the last year but…”

Emmett raises his hand up between them and shakes his head. “You don’t have to explain, really. I understand. And what I don’t understand, is not really my business anyway.” He pauses for a moment before asking, “Does he treat you well?”

The tall girl shrugs and grips the bag in her hands a little tighter. “Eric is really sweet,” she replies softly. 

Emmett reaches out before pulling his hand back to his side. “Take care of yourself, Ang. If you need anything, anything at all, you call me, ya?”

The brunette smiles and nods sharply. “I’ll see you around, Em.”

Rosalie can’t take any more of this sickening flirting. She moves swiftly past Angela, grabbing Emmett as she goes, and makes her way back down the hall. For his part, Emmett merely floats down the hall alongside her. They stop at the door to the stairwell and Rosalie turns to her brother. 

“What was that?”

Emmett looks down at his feet and shrugs. “What was what?”

The blonde growls in exasperation. “You’re going to get yourself hurt, again.” The words are said a little more harshly than she means. 

When Emmett had first met Angela in Forks, Rosalie had been adamantly against the two getting together; she was a human after all. It was bad for the family, it was bad for Jasper, and it was bad for all of Forks if it ended poorly. Against her better judgment, the entire family supported Emmett and welcomed Angela into their family. Before they even knew what had happened, Angela was being hunted by the foul vampire nomad James and his mate Victoria. Lo and behold, Rosalie had been right all along and Angela had almost been killed. If that had happened, it would have crushed Emmett, and Rosalie wasn’t about to allow that to happen to her sweet brother.

By some miracle, everyone was able to walk away from the incident. Everyone except for James, that is, who had been burned to ash. Victoria had disappeared and Laurent, their faithless companion, had journeyed to Alaska and quickly shacked up with Irina. Rosalie often found herself surrounded by loveless idiots who thought every encounter was the start of a romcom. 

“I can’t just deny who she is to me, Rose.” Emmett turns away from his sister and stares down the hallway toward the crowded classroom. Half the freshman body seems to be attending that class. “Just because she needs time, doesn’t mean I’m going to give up on her.”

“She didn’t ask for time; she broke up with you,” Rosalie says harshly. “When people break up, they do it for good. Stop wasting your time on the human.”

Against his kind nature, Emmett starts to snarl at his sister, but before he can mention any unkind word the door to the stairwell flies open, and a girl rushes through. Obviously not paying attention, the short girl knocks straight into Rosalie before flying backward, hitting her head on the closing door, and dropping her book bag beside her. The book bag zipper splits open, causing several different colored pens to explode all over the floor in a cacophony of color. 

The two siblings, astounded by how quickly everything happened, look down at the sprawled girl. 

“Ow.” 

Rosalie watches as the girl lifts a hand to her brunette hair and pushes it back from her light, brown eyes. She looks a bit angry, a crease forming across her forehead and a pout at her lips. Rosalie is about to scoff - as if it had been her fault the girl ran into her - when all of a sudden the brunette’s eyes grow three times in size, her mouth shaping into a delicate ‘o’. Surprised, Rosalie’s eyebrows raise in confusion. 

“Are you alright?” Emmett asks, leaning down and holding his hand out to the girl. “Did you hit your head?”

The girl blinks several times, finally looking away from Rosalie, before shaking her head. “Oh, I shouldn’t have done that,” She says while holding her hands against her head. The force of the shake must have stirred up a headache as the girl’s face goes ghost white.

Realizing what was going to happen next and not wanting a flaked out girl to deal with, Rosalie leans down and presses her cold hand against the teen’s forehead. The brunette sighs and leans into the touch. Rosalie tries to pull away, but the girl practically moans and holds the hand to her face.

“That feels amazing,” she says with a sigh.

“Right,” Rosalie replies, uncomfortably. She feels like she’s going to be trapped if she doesn’t act quickly. “You need to stand back up now and go to the nurse’s station.” Wrapping her hand around the girl’s waist, Rosalie lifts her to her feet before letting go. The girl sways slightly but is able to stay standing.

“Here’s your stuff,” Emmett says, holding out the bag.

Rosalie looks around quickly and notes her brother has already picked up all the pens and books and even bothered to fix the zipper. Just how long has she been held hostage by this girl?

“Thank you,” the brunette says, taking the bag before looking back at Rosalie. “I’m Bella, what’s your name?”

Rosalie looks down to see Bella has reached out her hand in greeting. The blonde scowls and turns to her brother. “Can we go now?”

Emmett looks down at his watch and nods his head saying, “I’ve got to head to class but you can escort Bella here to the nurse’s station. Wouldn’t want her getting lost along the way, right?” He smiles that baby smile, accenting his dimples for ultimate cuteness before turning back to Bella and shaking the girl’s hand. “I’m Emmett and this is my sister Rosalie. She’ll take care of you.”

With that, the burly teen sidesteps the two girls and makes his way down the stairs. Rosalie scowls at the closing door and huffs before running a hand through her hair. Why was she stuck babysitting the human? Was this a punishment for something she had done recently? It couldn’t possibly be over what she said about Angela. She was right, after all. Thinking hard, Rosalie can’t remember anything particularly harsh she’d done in the last few days except maybe yelling at Emmett for borrowing a wrench and not putting it back in its place.

“So, Rosalie,” Bella says, startling the blonde. Her name seems to roll off Bella’s tongue like she’d been saying it for years. The girl continues, ignoring the strange reaction. “Where is the nurse’s station?”

Rosalie closes her eyes and sighs, “The closest one is in the AHEC Education building.”

Bella nods and continues to watch the blonde. There is a part of Rosalie that hopes Bella will give up on the escort and just find the building herself. Instead, the small teen watches Rosalie with complete foolhardy abandon. Finally, the blonde turns toward the door and makes her way down the stairs, the brunette quick on her heels. They exit out the back of Maier Hall and follow along the paved walkway in silence. Bella continues to watch Rosalie, studying her extremely closely.

The blonde attempts to slow her pace, thinking maybe she’s walking too fast for the tiny legged human, or perhaps she’s not reacting to the cold wind. Was it particularly cold today? She pulls out her phone and checks the temperature. It’s 72 degrees and overcast, she should be fine in her thin jean jacket and blouse. She tucks the phone back into her pocket and adjusts the strap of her shoulder bag. Why was the girl still staring? 

Rosalie begins to fidget with her hair and decides to push it over to the other shoulder. She then quickens her pace hoping to be done with this strange chore. So what if the girl has a minor concussion? Plenty of teenagers go their entire existence as if they hit their head one too many times. The speed seems to be too much for the brunette, who quickly trips; over what the blonde has no clue. 

“Are you alright?” Rosalie asks, more out of necessity than care.

“Yeah, sorry. I don’t know how but I manage to trip over my own feet most days.” Bella adjusts the strap of her book bag and looks out through the trees, seeming to search them for something but coming up empty. She looks back at Rosalie and smiles. The blonde rolls her eyes.

When they arrive at the next building, Rosalie holds the door open for the brunette and walks her down the hall. They pass several teaching labs and classrooms before making their way through a set of heavy double doors. To their left is a receptionist hanging up the phone and sighing. The older woman pushes a strand of greying hair behind her ear and picks up a pen to jot a note down. Hearing the door open and close she looks up to see the two teens and immediately smiles.

“Rosalie, dear, welcome back!” She says kindly. “Are you volunteering again this year?”

Bella leans her head to the side and looks up at the blonde questioningly. Before the taller teen can answer, a young man with a struggling toddler in both arms walks up the hall. When he reaches the receptionist he places both kids down but keeps a hand on their shirts. 

“Good morning, Kathy,” the man says before turning to the teens. “And hello there Rosalie. Good to see you here again this year.” He turns back to the receptionist and signs the sign-in form.

One of the boys smiles shyly at Rosalie while the other one says, “Good Morning, Ms. Hale.”

Rosalie smiles brightly and says good morning to the two boys. The man finishes his sign in before pushing his boys through the door just behind Kathy.

“Oh, this must be a daycare,” Bella says when the door opens up to the loud noises of children’s play.

Kathy smiles at the brunette and asks if she’ll be volunteering with Rosalie this year. 

“No,” Rosalie says at the same time Bella replies, “Maybe.”

Rosalie scowls at Bella and continues down the hallway, not bothering to say goodbye to Kathy. The older woman doesn’t seem to mind the neglectful attitude and goes back to her work.

“You volunteer at the daycare?” Bella asks, slightly breathless from catching up with the taller teen. “Do you have younger siblings? You and Emmett are brother and sister, right? Are you from a big family?”

Pushing another door open, Rosalie sighs, presses her back against the door, and turns to Bella. “Nurse’s station.”

Bella walks in and looks around. She turns to say thank you to Rosalie but the blonde is already gone and out of the building.

**Edward**

Parking his Volvo in the small lot, Edward leans back in his seat and sighs. When Carlisle asked someone to look into this forestry project at the Olympic National Resource Center, Edward figured he’d at least have Emmett by his side; instead, he was taking on the project alone. He closes his eyes and brushes his hands through his red hair before turning off the car and hopping out.

“Might as well get this over with,” the teen mumbles to himself before flipping his coat over his shoulder and walking to the main entrance. The campus is small but so much of the research would be done out in the field that it hardly matters. The outside structures seem strange and imposing, especially for an educational center. The high roofs stretch out at weird angles and the lack of walls makes for decent outdoor space while avoiding the sun and rain, except, of course, when it rains sideways. The way the roofs seem to stretch out over even the enclosed buildings provides a skylight universal view, as if all the buildings were camouflaged to look the same.

Edward stares at them for several beats enjoying the peace of the afternoon. There are a few people around, mostly middle-aged professors working on passion projects. As one passes by, Edward listens to his internal debate over carrying a thermos of soup out to the lake that afternoon.  _ Would it be worth the effort? Should I just bring my sandwich? It would be much lighter. _

The thoughts drift off as the man continues walking by. Edward smiles to himself and wonders what life would be like debating only the most trivial issues. 

He turns toward the large open door of the main building. Inside, his nose is struck with a strange smell, a musty mixture that reminds him of cedarwood and wet dog. Confused, Edward searches the hall for the Quileute wolf. 

Two girls stand off to the side talking about their winter wardrobe and the need to invest in serious winter boots if they were to be trudging around in the woods. Edward picks up Seattle accents and wonders if the girls have ever even been hiking before.  _ I wonder if there will be outhouses along the trail,  _ one of the girls ponders, making Edward laugh. 

A man with greying hair and a potbelly munches on a crueler while rushing through the hall.  _ Overslept on the first day. If Julie doesn’t stop snoring, I’m never going to get a good night’s rest. _

“Are you new here?” A middle-aged woman with blonde hair asks, stepping in front of Edward.

He smiles and rubs the back of his neck already deciding the shy boy act would get him the best results with this woman. 

“Yeah, I’m looking for the Quillayute Needles Refuge project?” He looks up into her green eyes and smiles.

_ My goodness, if I wasn’t twice his age… _ “That is in lecture room 103. Just down the hall on the right.”

“Thank you so much,” Edward says, already moving past the woman and down the hall. Following the scent, Edward finds himself at the door marked 103 and realizes the wolf must be a part of the same project. 

“Curse you Carlise,” He mumbles under his breath before opening the door. The room is large with a small front stage and tiered seating. There is a collection of blackboards, smartboards, and a projector screen at the front. On the other side of the hall is an exit to an outdoor patio with picnic tables. 

There’s a collection of fifteen people in the hall; five or six young students, most likely here for research credits, another five adults who have devoted their lives to conservation, and a few tech people standing over a laptop and laughing. 

_ The cat just keeps knocking the stuff off the table. _ One of the girls laughs to herself, far more amused by the cat’s antics than any of the others. 

A woman stands at the front looking through a pile of papers. Without bothering to look up she asks Edward for his name. Once he provides it, she marks his name on one paper and passes over a binder with the project name in Times New Roman. Edward is impressed that the woman didn’t even bother to change from the standard font. 

“My name is Dr. Agnus Appletree. Yes, I get the humor in it. Please, take a seat, we will be beginning shortly.”

A breeze crosses the room when the outside door is opened. The air is cool, sharp, and instantly makes Edward’s neck hair stand at attention.

“What are you doing here?” The words are more growl than comprehensible but Edward listens as the girl internally debates her fight or flight reflexes. He looks up to see a tall and muscular young woman in loose jeans, sandals, and a band t-shirt. Her hair is short and blunted, her skin a perfect coppery shade, her eyes dark brown with feathery eyelashes. Just under the sleeve of her shirt is the barely visible wolf pack tattoo of the Quileute.

Edward smiles in reply, an apology just on his lips, but when the two make eye contact the girl coughs and jumps back. 

“Are you ok…?” Edward starts to ask.

“Oh shit,” the girl says, her internal thoughts screaming the same phrase over and over again. “No, oh no, please no.” She begins stuttering while taking several steps back. 

Edward watches as the girl begins to shake, her words continuing to come out in a jumble of swears and curses. He takes a few steps closer just as the girl turns around and runs out of the lecture room.

_ What the fuck? _ Dr. Appletree’s thoughts line perfectly with Edward and he finds himself nodding in agreement. “Are you ok?” The doctor asks Edward but he nods and tells her it was just a bit of confusion.  _ I’ll say. _ “Very well, take your seat.”

_ Who was that girl? _ Edward wonders as he follows the order. He pulls out his phone and sends a quick message to Carlisle, explaining what just happened. The response simply says, “We will talk when you get home.” 

“I will begin by explaining that this project is a combined resource exploration and cataloging of the wildlife preserve and reservation lands along the coastline.” Dr. Appletree begins. “Our reach is from the Hoh res to the Quileute res, so make sure you have at least two pairs of hiking boots and are prepared for all weather conditions.”

One of the young guys raises his hand and asks, “So we’re traveling along the Oil City Trailhead?”

“Sometimes, when you’re lucky,” Dr. Appletree answers with a smirk. “Every morning we’ll be picking straws to see who travels the trail and who travels through the thicket. We’re cataloging everything we can, so we need to travel across all terrain we can.”

“Will we be able to complete this project by the end of the semester?” Another student asks. His thoughts wonder how much bug spray he should purchase. 

Laughing, Dr. Appletree shakes her head. “Of course not, but don’t worry; you’ll get your participation credits. If you know anyone else that would be interested in this project, please pass them my card. There are a few copies in your binder.”

The lecture continues with how to catalog the different types of plants and going over the distinction between a few types of trees. Edward zones out, spending his time thinking about the wolf from earlier.

_ I’d never known the Quileutes had female wolves. When we arrived just a few years back, there was only the main council we greeted. When Angela and Emmett dated during his senior year, the Quileute’s had grown to a pack of five. Sam, Paul, Jared, Jake, and Quil. There must have been more with the appearance of James, Victoria, and Laurent. But how many more? _

_ Did the girl lose control just a little while ago? If she doesn’t have control enough to be around humans, she honestly shouldn’t be in such a populated location. But if she’s with the pack, then she would have had proper training; none of the others have had any serious issues since Sam had accidentally marred his mate. Was it just because a vampire showed up? Was it because she’s alone? _

Edward scratched his chin while jotting down a few internal thoughts. He would need to bring this to Carlisle’s attention; not only the fact that the wolf almost lost control in a crowded room, but that Sam needs to be talked to about how serious of a problem it is.

A vagrant thought, one so far away Edward is surprised he can pick it up, rushes into his mind. 

_ I need to have my control back, I can’t let this own me. _

Even stranger than the thought, which Edward quickly realizes is from the female wolf, is the reply that comes next.

_ This isn’t the same, it can’t be the same. You can’t imprint on a vampire. _

That thought is from Sam, the Quileute wolf alpha. Edward blinks and shakes his head violently.

“Do you disagree with something, Mr. Cullen?” Dr. Appletree asks. 

Edward tries to think back on what they were talking about. It was the difference between a Western Hemlock and a Pacific Yew. Thinking quickly, Edward makes a response about how the needles are of different lengths, so even if you don’t see any bark, cones, or berries, it’s still easy to decipher between the two. The doctor agrees and continues with the discussion. 

Another thought inches its way into the back of Edward’s skull. He finds himself fascinated with the internal debate while also wishing he could help in some way.  _ I don’t know if I can shift back while feeling this way but I also need to see him again _ .

Standing up abruptly, Edward excuses himself. The doctor merely repeats the time and place they’ll be meeting the next day and allows the rest of the group to leave. The rushed teen quickly makes his way out the patio door and across the field, directly into the thick woods surrounding the center. Along the way, he sends another message to Carlisle, knowing what a horrible mistake he’s making but feeling compelled to follow through. He doesn’t need to go far as the trees quickly encompass him on all sides, darkening out what little sunlight there is. 

The red-head stands still, searching the woods for the thoughts that scratch at his brain, but they remain silent. Fearing he might have lost them, Edward starts sniffing the air. He finds the scent but it wafts from every direction. Did he just walk into an ambush? His body stiffens, his reflexes on high alert. 

_ Stand down.  _ The thought comes as a command from Sam. Edward slowly searches the woods around him, finally seeing the telltale black fur of the giant wolf. Calmly raising his hands in front of him, Edward lowers his head in surrender.

“I’m not here for a fight.”

_ Then leave _ . The reply is forceful, angry, but also very protective.

“I can’t do that,” Edward says softly. “I am fulfilling a request.”

Sam growls and bites at the air between them. His front legs claw at the ground in frustration.  _ I demand you to leave, now. _

“We are on neutral ground. I am not a threat to you.”

_ You are a threat to all humans! _ Sam growls and rushes at Edward, his anger allowing him to act brashly. It seems strange, as Sam has always been quite level-headed but something is causing this extreme reaction to Edward’s presence.

Crouching in defense, Edward makes ready to take off once he has a clear exit but also unsure how many wolves are near him. Luckily, Sam is only able to take two steps before another wolf, nearly half the size of him, jumps onto his back, knocking him off balance. The small, grey wolf circles around and leaps for Sam’s legs, nipping at the paws and keeping him unsteady and unable to attack again.

Edward watches the two wolves interact, wondering what could cause the strange disruption in their hierarchy. Normally the wolves are fearless, impressive, and controlled. Their anger controls their ability to shift but he’d never seen it control their interpersonal relationships.

A rustling comes through the woods and Edward fears another wolf has entered the fray, instead his surrogate father rushes in, his short blonde hair in disarray and his dress pants ripped at the knee.

“Your law demands the safety of all imprints,” Carlisle says as he takes his place next to Edward. His voice is clear, true, and holds no room for negotiation.

_ You have no right to declare my pack’s laws to me! _ Sam retorts but takes a few steps back. Edward quickly repeats the words to Carlisle, even though he is unclear what the two are stating.

“What law? What imprint?” He asks. Edward can’t remember the last time he felt so unprepared for a discussion. How did Carlisle know of pack laws?

The grey wolf looks up at him and Edward immediately recognizes the girl from the lecture hall, the same shade of dark brown eyes staring into his. There is something different about this wolf, something apart from the rest of the pack. Was it simply because she is female? So small and agile? Looking into the wolf’s eyes Edward felt immediately at peace as if a safety blanket was being placed around his shoulders. Even with Sam’s imposing dark form, Edward felt like no one could harm him.

“What is your name?” Edward says softly, almost a whisper.

_ Leah Clearwater _ .

_ So you're still thinking of me/Just like I know you should/I can not give you everything, you know I wish I could/I'm so high at the moment/I'm so caught up in this/Yeah, we're just young, dumb and broke/But we still got love to give _ \-  **Young Dumb And Broke** covered by Postmodern Jukebox

**A/N: Welcome to the fanfic I Like Me Better. This story will be focusing on several different relationships; the ones I am certain of so far are Rosalie/Bella, Emmett/Angela, and Edward/Leah. Esme/Carlisle and Jasper/Alice also exist but are canon. In fact, we are entirely in the Twilight universe as far as Vampire and Shape-Shifter legends/rules go with only minor storyline changes. Overall Twilight plotline happened but it was between Angela/Emmett and at the end of the year, Angela broke up with Emmett. Everything else is more-or-less the same.**

**As an author, I am trying to become a better writer. In the last several years, I feel that fanfiction has helped me grow as a writer and improve my abilities. With your help, I hope to improve my description capabilities. Please, call me out on my mistakes and let me know if I am lacking in my descriptions or going completely overboard.**

**I am also going for longer chapters with this fic and with that comes sporadic updates. Those of you who have read my stories before, know the struggle when I go weeks without any updates (sometimes years but I think I’ve been good the last few). So I hope you enjoy this and continue along with me.**


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